Posted by Adrienne on March 16, 2009 under Arsenal, Books, Soccer, Sounders | 
Have you noticed that the MLS season is starting soon? I’ve been aware of it for quite a long while now. And because I like to go all out with this sort of thing, I decided to read up a bit on soccer before going to see my first ever in-person professional match. (Seattle Sounders FC vs New York Red Bull! Thursday, 6 PM PST on ESPN2! Tune In!)
There aren’t too many books out about MLS yet – it’s still a pretty new league – but most books about soccer and its place in the world have a chapter about soccer in the US. They usually talk about why soccer isn’t popular in America (it is seen as a game for foreigners, or for little kids, or for girls, or for guys “too weak” for American football) and sometimes they talk about the North American Soccer League (NASL). It’s interesting to read these takes on soccer, as they are generally written by authors that aren’t from the United States.
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Posted by Adrienne on November 25, 2008 under Arsenal, Soccer |
For 86 minutes on Tuesday, it looked like Arsenal might find a way to drop points to Dynamo Kiev. The Gunners kept creating chances, and then whiffing on the actual scoring. While a 0-0 draw isn’t the end of the world for Arsenal in Champions League, with the form they’ve been in recently, it seemed to me that they could cough it up at any minute, and go down by a goal or two. And another loss is definitely not what the side or the fans would even want to contemplate. There were empty seats at the Not-Highbury-Anymore Stadium, and that, more than anything, shows how poorly the side have been playing as of late. So, for 86 minutes, I was frustrated and anxious, expecting another disappointment.
The man next to me in the pub had just announced that Nicklas Bendtner was “absolutely worthless” (echoing my own thoughts) when a long pass from Fabregas was taken by Bendtner and put away in a corner of the net. It held up for the last few minutes, and now Arsenal are going on to the next stage in the Champions League. It was nice to see a win. Now, I hope that the Gunners can build on this success and grab another win on Sunday against Chelsea.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS!
Posted by Adrienne on November 24, 2008 under Arsenal, Soccer |
It’s been a pretty bad sports year for me. All of the Seattle teams have been having a hard time wining games, so I’ve been paying even more attention to Arsenal, who can generally be counted on to be competitive in the Premiereship. I got to see a great win in Champions League play against Fenerbache, and Arsenal beat manchester united which is always cause for rejoicing. But recently, Arsenal have not been on form. The last two matches I watched, against Aston Villa and Manchester City have featured a lackluster Arsenal side who can’t seem to create many chances, let alone score goals.
Now, there have been some key injuries for Arsenal: Adebayor has been out for awhile, and Theo Walcott has dislocated his shoulder. But the other Gunners are supposed to be quality footballers, so I’m pretty disappointed that they can’t seem to mesh together and play well.
Here’s hoping the Gunners can pull together for the match on Sunday against Chelsea. Perhaps they’ll realize that this is a big one, and they can’t go fannying about the pitch against a talented side like Chelsea. We’ll see.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS!
Posted by Adrienne on October 28, 2008 under Arsenal, Soccer, Sounders |
The Sounders have signed former Arsenal footballer Freddie Ljungberg (it’s pronounced LOON-berg) as their designated player*. As an Arsenal supporter and a Sounders fan, this makes me really excited. Freddie was a big part of Arsenal’s “Invicible” season in 2003-04, when they did not lose a single match, and while he’s gotten older and a little more susceptible to injuries, he should still have plenty of good skills to bring to the team, especially in the MLS. Most folks who follow soccer believe that MLS does not have the quality of more established leagues like the English Premiereship or the Italian Serie A. While Freddie may not be a superstar in one of those leagues, he should be able to tear up the MLS, much like how David Beckham has found success in America, even while his career is coming towards its end. Also, like Beckham, Freddie is a midfielder, so he’ll be responsible for setting up scoring chances for the strikers. Perhaps he’ll take a few himself!
As his last name implies, Freddie is from a Scandinavian country, specifically, Sweden, and he has played in 75 matches for his international team. While Sweden is not the footballing powerhouse that Italy or Germany are, they are always competitive in European play. Having one of Sweden’s main players on our side is a great deal for the Sounders, and I fully expect Freddie to help Seattle make waves in MLS play next season.
Welcome to Seattle, Freddie! We are glad to have you! And remember, if you ever want a taste of back home, you can always stop by Ballard. Let’s Go Sounders!
*The Designated Player is a player whose salary does not count against the team salary cap. Every MLS club gets one DP. Other Designated Players in MLS include David Beckham for LA Galaxy and Cuauhtemoc Blanco for Chicago Fire.
Posted by Adrienne on October 23, 2008 under Arsenal, Baseball, Basketball, Football, Mariners, Seahawks, Soccer, Sounders |
What did we do to anger the sports gods?
It must have been something major, because the city of Seattle is on pace for the worst ever calendar year for sports. Consider:
- Husky men’s basketball went 8-10 in the 2007-2008 season
- the Supersonics went 20-62, the second worst record in the NBA
- the Mariners ended the season with a 61-101 record while ranking 9th in Major League Baseball in payroll
- the Supersonics were brutally ripped from the city, and moved to oklahoma
- the Mariners didn’t finish last in the league, but instead finished second-to-last, ensuring that they wouldn’t get the first pick in the 2009 draft
- the Seahawks lost all of their first string WRs to injury in the first two weeks of the season, then QB Matt Hasselbeck suffered an injury that put him out for at least three weeks
- Husky football QB Jake Locker injured his hand and has missed/will miss 6-8 weeks of the season
- the Seahawks are currently 1-5, in last place in the NFC West (yes, even behind the Rams) and unlikely to catch either the 49ers or the Cardinals
- the Huskies are currently 0-6 and will maybe get 1 win, against the hapless Cougars in the Apple Cup
Has there ever been another city that has had bad horrific seasons by every single one of its major sports teams* all at the same time? If you know of one, I’d love to hear about it. It might ease my pain somewhat.
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